Foundation Crack Repair, Basement Waterproofing Blog

How to Protect Your Concrete from Flaking, Pitting, and Spalling - Boston, MA

Joseph Coupal - Monday, February 09, 2015

Concrete shows wear and tear. This is because, here in New England we have very cold weather. Concrete is like a sponge and it will absorb water. Then we have cold weather and the water in the concrete freezes. Concrete is tough to a point, but when the water freezes, little bits of the concrete expand and break. Similar to a popcorn in a microwave, the concrete pieces get bigger and they pop. This is what causes concrete spalling, pitting and flaking.

We have to remove the damaged concrete. We chip or chisel it off, use a wire brush or sand blast it. Once we do that, sometimes metal rebar is exposed that is rusted or deteriorated and needs to be replaced.

Then, we need to assess if the concrete is more expensive to repair or pull it out and replace. If we replace it, we are talking about jack hammering and disposing of it too. Then re-pouring. In most cases concrete can be repaired.

Then we need to determine how we are going to repair it. There are hundreds of companies that sell thousands of concrete repair products. You need to be very educated in this area to be able to determine what material will repair your situation.

Next, we need to repair the concrete. This means considering the air temperature, the temperature of the concrete, the mix ratios, the pot life - which means how long we have to work with the materials we are using. Also, the proper tools and techniques need to be used to achieve the goals that you want. But you will end up with a nice repaired piece of concrete that will last for years.

To slow down to prevent pitting, spalling and flaking concrete we put a crystallized quartz based material. These crystals actually grow in the concrete. As water hits it, it does not let the water to get into the concrete and cause damage. It is very inexpensive but saves thousands of dollars in repair.

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